The Ultimates (Watty Awards 2011)

Chapter 10

It plunged into the ground at a fast pace. Whatever it was, it was very bright. A strange sound emanated from it. I tried to move my arms to cover my eyes but it was no use. I could barely move. I was just too weak. I slowly turned my head to the side. Andrew was in the same state I was in.

Dust and dirt flew everywhere. I struggled to turn my head away and close my eyes. I could hear even more strange sounds coming from the even stranger object. I looked at it. It faintly looked like a red pillar. It was open. And walking out of it were...humans.

I stared in disbelief. ‘What kind of technology are other countries making?’ I thought to myself. I had never seen anything like it, yet knowledge of all new technology created by countries, even the Revolutionaries, was supposed to belong to the Ultimates.

They all wore a strange full-blue uniform. There were five of them. One approached me and knelt down beside me. Another one approached me and that one gave him what looked like a pill.

“Swallow this,” the first one said in a surreal, serene monotone. Too weak to even move my jaw, he forced the object down my throat. He stayed kneeling down beside me until all of my strength came back. I had no idea how this could possibly happen to me, nor did I question it. Instead, I asked other, more pressing questions:

“Who are you?”

The being remained silent for some time. He got up and walked a short distance away. I stood up as well. The being stopped.

“Who am I?” he said again in that same surreal voice. He stood with his back turned to me, as if he was thinking hard on the question I had just asked him. Finally, he turned towards me and said:

“I am Ilord Grasht. As to who we are…well I can tell you that as well, which I am sure is what you really want to know. We are the Ghunges, slaves of the Jhunges, and enemies of the Glingbahs. We are, what you people of Earth would call us, an ‘alien race.’ We have come with information we know you and your people would do well to know.”

I stood in disbelief at what he was saying. Aliens? Impossible. We had studied everything in the Solar System and even some planets beyond. There was absolutely no life on any of those planets. But then I wondered if they were from a place far, far away from the Solar System, even beyond our reach. It did all make sense if I did consider it. This strange object was beyond my knowledge. And what lunatics would randomly claim they were aliens? I looked to my right. Andrew was standing up, the same expression on his face that was on mine.

“You look the same as us. How do we know you are an alien race?” I asked, trying to put everything together.

“Oh what? Do you think we would look as putrid and horrible as those things you see on your television portray people like us to be? We are from a far away galaxy, yes, but we couldn’t look like that. What exactly led you to believe that anything could actually look like that is totally beyond my comprehension.”

I remained silent. It did make sense.

“Back to the information now. Our ‘masters’ will soon plan an invasion on your planet. Not too long from this time. You do not have much time prepare. Mere weeks, that is how much time you have. But you must be prepared nonetheless.”

He pulled something out of his right pocket. It was a purple, circular object with a button. He pulled a document out of his pocket and gave it to Andrew. I stared at the object.

“What is this?” I asked.

“That is not really important.”

“What does it do? When do I use it?”

“When the Jhunges, and possibly the Glingbahs, attack your planet, you will know when to use it. Keep it on you at all time.”

The noise of a helicopter flooded the area. The noise coming from the strange thing that they arrived in had stopped. We all looked at it.

“Well I see your people have come to rescue you. Remember what I said. Always remember Arckine.”

And with that final word, he and his friends entered the object. The strange sound emanated from it again and became louder and louder and at a speed unable to be seen, it left. Andrew was already shouting ‘Help!’ in the helicopter’s direction.

And it heard us. I think that it might have come anyways, considering it was scheduled to meet us there. We got in the helicopter quickly. It slowly went to the sky again and went forward, away from Russia, away from the threat, towards New York, where we had to prepare for a possibly bigger threat than the Revolutionaries.

It had been an hour. I was finally relaxed. I leaned my head back on the back of the seat. Andrew was already asleep and was sprawled out on the seat. The noise of the helicopter soothed me and I wanted to sleep as well. I slowly closed my eyes…

The side of the helicopter exploded. The fire moved in all directions and it stung my arm. Andrew awoke, realising what had happened. The parachute was already on my back. The door was destroyed. The helicopter was falling. In desperation, I dived out of hole in the helicopter.

I was falling at a high speed. We weren’t too far away from the ground. I opened my parachute but ended up falling onto the ground. I lay on the ground with a searing pain in my back. A figure walked briskly through the dust.

I recognised him immediately. That smirk on his face. That pistol in his hand. His stance. His face. There was no way I couldn’t have recognised him. But I didn’t want to believe it. Seth stood over me, his gun pointed at my head.

“Surprised?” he asked me. I remained silent. He walked up to me and kicked me hard in the face.

“I wouldn’t be. I looked back on my behaviour recently. Did it not seem suspicious to you? It would have seemed so to me. I seriously considered asking you to join me in my pursuit. But I knew what you would say. You were much too loyal to the Ultimates.”

“What, so you’re working for the Revolutionaries?”

Seth chuckled, his gun still pointed at my head.

“No. I work for a power far beyond your, or any of the Ultimates’, comprehension. But now you’re just a thorn in my side. Goodbye, Arckine. We’ll miss you.”

Seth was about to pull the trigger when Andrew tackled him. He knocked the gun of Seth’s hand. Seth started swiping at him, and missed every time. Andrew punched him in the stomach and the in the face. I was certain he was going to win.

But then Seth jabbed him in the eye. That jab meant something to me. It meant that Seth was really gone. The fact that he would try to kill Andrew, try to blind him, even try to hurt him, registered in me that he wasn’t coming back.

Andrew screamed and fell to the ground. Seth quickly picked up the gun that had been knocked out of his hand by Andrew. He slowly walked to Andrew. He pointed his gun at him.

“One Ultimate down. One to go.”

He pulled the trigger. The sound and the gun echoed across the area. Andrew’s head jerked up and then down again. Then, Seth turned his head towards me.